1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for printing a photographic image.
2.Description of Related Art
In general, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus is an apparatus for printing a monochrome image or a color image by illuminating a light beam on a surface of a photosensitive medium which is electrically charged with a predetermined electric potential to form an electrostatic latent image, developing the electrostatic latent image with toner, that is, a developing agent, and transferring and fusing the developed image onto a printing medium.
A photographic image developed on a photographic paper is different from a typical print image in that the photographic image is typically glossy. To produce a glossy effect with the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a so-called glossy toner must be used as a developing agent. However, since the glossy toner is distributed in an image region where the image is formed and is not distributed in a non-image region where an image is not formed, the image region is glossy and the non-image region is not glossy. That it, there is a glossiness difference between the image and non-image regions. Due to this, a photographic image printed by a conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus feels different than a picture developed on photographic paper.
Accordingly, there is a need for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus that prints a photographic image which is glossy in both image and non-image regions, and a method of printing a photographic image by using the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.